Giant cell myocarditis associated with silicone. An unusual case of biomaterials pathology discovered at autopsy using X-ray energy spectroscopic techniques.
Silicones, used extensively in the fabrication of medical devices because they were presumed inert and biocompatible, are now well-recognized inducers of localized granulomatous inflammation. Silicones less commonly are also associated with more complex clinico-pathologic entities. In this communication, the authors present a case of a patient on chronic hemodialysis involving tubing probably fabricated from silicone rubber who died from a giant cell myocarditis associated with silicone rubber. This case is presented to expand the interpretive paradigm of human pathology and underscores the need for pathologists to consider medical-device associated phenomena in the differential diagnosis of clinical specimens.
Kossovsky
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N
Biomaterials Bioreactivity Characterization Laboratory, UCLA Medical Center 90024-1732.
Cole
P
P
Zackson
D A
DA
D000368:Aged; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012826:Silicone Elastomers / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D014965:X-Rays
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D012826:Silicone Elastomers